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There are two types of people in the world: serious savers, and the rest of us mere mortals! Personally, I've always found saving to be almost beyond me. When I was a boy, my parents opened savings accounts for myself and my sister. After a half-hearted effort at saving my pocket money, I quickly emptied my account. However, my sister diligently kept saving and, about 25 years later, was rewarded with windfall shares when her building society converted to a bank. Drat! Although I have built up some savings in adult life, it hasn't exactly been one of my strengths (I much prefer investing in shares). However, I've been taking saving more seriously in recent years, so I've taken steps to improve my attitude and approach to it. Here are five lessons that I've learned: Don't open a savings account with a pound A few years ago, I did some research and, with armed the best intentions, opened a Best Buy savings account with the minimum deposit of £1. However, thanks to my poor budgeting skills, I failed to add anything to my pot and later closed it down - untouched since the first day! Opening a savings account is almost always a good idea, but not if you only stick a quid into it. All this does is give you false hope and security, because you think, "the account's there if I need it". What's more, this behaviour drives banks mad, because they waste a fortune administering accounts that contain tiny sums. Don't be a one-time depositor I opened a Best Buy account at the end of last year and chucked a hefty sum into it. However, I'm determined to add to my balance as often as I can. I've begun to round up little sums of money that are inconsequential individually, but collectively add up to a decent amount. For example, this weekend, I deposited several small cheques that have been gathering dust in my paper mountain. It's my new goal to put something into my new account every month. Don't overlook regular-savings accounts To compensate for my lack of financial discipline, I've resorted to using a regular-savings account to build a bigger pot. If you're willing to save an agreed minimum (or set) amount for twelve consecutive months, you can earn higher interest rates with a regular-savings account. Although the Abbey has withdrawn its Best Buy account, you can still earn a fixed rate of 7% AER before tax with the Halifax's Regular Saver account. No other mainstream savings account can match this rate, but this account is only for the determined savers with at least £25 a month to spare. If you can't keep up payments, you'll lose your juicy bonus! Don't take your eyes off the rate "Bait and switch" is one of the banks' favourite tricks. They lure you in with table-topping rates and then, once they've won your business, they start cutting rates on the sly. It's remarkable how many of yesterday's star accounts turn into tomorrow's dogs! The best approach is to find a current Best Buy and then regularly check to make sure that it stays that way. One way to do this is to find the page on the firm's website that includes the interest rate for your account. By bookmarking this page (adding it to your browser's "Favourites" folder, by pressing "CTRL-D" in Internet Explorer), you can check future rates with two clicks of your mouse. You can apply for several table-topping and award-winning accounts via the Fool. Don't pay tax if you don't have to Most savers hand over a slice of their interest to the taxman. Basic-rate taxpayers surrender a fifth (20%) of their gross (pre-tax) interest to the Inland revenue, with higher-rate taxpayers coughing up two-fifths (40%). However, if you plan to save less than £3,000 a year, you should open a cash mini-ISA instead. These special savings accounts pay non-taxable interest, often at superior rates. If you're aged sixteen or over, you can't call yourself a real saver until you've experienced the joy of cash mini-ISAs. Another benefit is that you don't have to declare your ISA interest on your tax return, which saves on paperwork. Learn more in Supersize Your Savings! Finally, with over £500 billion in savings shared between the UK's 25 million households, the "average" household has savings of £20,000. If you start today, you'll be a little closer to your target this time next year! More: Visit the Fool's Savings centre | Build A Better Future For Your Kids. Cliff owns shares in HBOS, the Halifax's parent company.